Aliens vs Predator: Outbreak
by RickGiriamax
Summary: [Set right after AVP and AVP - Requiem] Lex, Dallas, Ricky and Kelly struggle to get over the traumatic events that they have just gone through; however, Weyland Industries and the Yutani Corporation have found something that may lead to Earth's ultimate war for survival. (Full summary inside)
1. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**SUMMARY:**

Right after the events of AVP and AVPR, Lex has been through a living hell. Weyland Industries has lost its CEO and, seemingly unwilling to believe her story, the board has deployed an expediton to Bouvetøya Island to find a plausible explanation to the failure of the archelogical expedition. Meanwhile, Dallas and Ricky, along with Kelly and Molly, have been taken into custody by an unknown faction.

While on Bouvetøya Island, the Weyland Industries' exploration team reveal something that will ultimately become the begining of humanity's last struggle to become the dominant species of the planet, unless something else manages to wipe both sides out of the face of Earth first.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Back in 2004, right after I saw AVP, a friend of mine and me started working on a fan-made script for a sequel just for the fun of it. When AVP - Requiem came out three years later, I realized how close we had been to predicting what would follow, though we hadn't taken the Predalien into account. Now, I decided to lay out our idea again and write this as a fan fiction sequel to AVPR, depicting what would happen if... well, you'll see :).

* * *

 **Disclaimer:**

All Aliens vs Predator related content present in this copyrighted and/or registered trademarks of 20th Century Fox.


	2. SURVIVORS

**_Bouvetøya Island, Antarctica – October 14th, 2004_**

A small submarine was descending into the depths of the ocean next to Bouvetøya Island. The three scientists on board were looking at the monitors on board, while the Weyland Industries' operator guided the sub further down into the dark pit below. Soon, the radar started beeping and a large white dot appeared on the sonar screen.

"Surface, this is exploration team, ID code whiskey, India, three, six, one," said one of the scientists through the radio.

 _"Exploration team, this is base camp,"_ replied another man's voice, _"what is your current status?"_

"Surface, I think we have made contact with something big down here," said the scientist. "We're heading toward it to verify its nature."

 _"Roger that, please keep us posted on what you may find, over"_

The sub operator pressed a button and two bright lights under the cockpit shot strong beams down into the bottom of the ocean. One of the scientists looked over the operator's shoulder and opened his eyes wide.

"Sir, what's that?" asked another scientist, looking at the video feed on another screen.

Right in front of the submarine, about a hundred feet below, a large, metallic, cylindrical structure lay crushed and wrinkled, already covered in ice. Lying next to it, its body crumbled and stiff, frozen and lifeless, there lay…

* * *

It had been nearly a week since Alexa 'Lex' Woods had returned to the civilization. Even though the expedition on Bouvetøya Island in Antarctica one month before had gone wrong, Weyland Industries had paid her a large sum of money, though they had confiscated the spear that the elder 'hunter' had given her before going back into space. She had managed then to move to a small apartment in DC, not before listening to the people of Weyland Industries promise her that they would contact her again.

Even though she had kept trying over and over to forget the events of Antarctica, she leaned under her bed and pulled out a small box, opened it and took out a piece of a sensationalist newspaper dated Oct 16th, 2004 and looked at the page that she had kept:

 ** _NUCLEAR FAILURE WIPES OUT TOWN_**

 _Gunnison, a small county in Colorado, has been completely destroyed due to a critical failure in an experimental nuclear reactor that was being tested on the local electrical plant. Several power shortages had been reported during the course of the night on the past October 12th, followed by a series of random explosions inside the plant. The government, alerted of the situation, deployed a military convoy in order to evacuate the people in town, but the nuclear reactor couldn't be contained and resulted in a disastrous meltdown, followed by a devastating explosion that wiped out the entire town and its whole population. No survivors have been reported so far._

 _Despite the government's explanations about the nature of the event, our correspondents have been asking questions across the nearby town and many witnesses have ensured that they had seen military jets flying toward Gunnison, as well as helicopters and armored vehicles. Also, a few people who requested to stay anonymous, have mentioned that they had seen a large object falling in flames into the forest surrounding Gunnison._

 _Question remains as we wonder if the disappearance of Gunnison County was actually an accident, as the government wishes to ensure, or if it was all a cover to prevent us from discovering what really happened. What could the government been trying to hide, that it was worth the sacrifice of an entire town full of innocent civilians?_

Lex didn't know why she had thought this article to be of importance, but something about it made her feel uneasy. She looked at her watch and noticed it was almost noon, which meant she was running late for a job interview. She showered quickly, got dressed in a nice navy blue suit and left the apartment. Parked in front of the building, there was a limousine with the logo of Weyland Industries on one of the doors.

"Miss Woods?" asked a man in a black suit, exiting the limo.

"I'm sorry, I have no time for this," she replied, trying to walk away. The man reached her in no time and grabbed her arm.

"I'm sorry, but I must insist." Lex pulled her arm free and glared at the man. "I'm Ethan Harris. Mr. Weyland has requested that you're taken to his presence."

"Mr. Weyland is dead," said Lex. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not talking of the late Mr. Charles Weyland," replied Mr. Harris. "I'm speaking on behalf of Mr. David Weyland, Mr. Charles Weyland's son."

Lex looked at Harris in surprise and admitted her defeat, allowing him to lead her back to the limo. She was already used to this routine, for during the past first two weeks after Antarctica, Weyland Industries had been sending agents to the hotel where she had been first staying and taking her back to one or another of their several operation buildings. While the driver drove toward the airport, Lex allowed herself to remember her first questioning right after she had returned from Bouvetøya:

 _"Ok, Miss Woods, let's start over again," said the man in front of her, a tanned man in a black suit who wore slightly tainted glasses, placing a recorder on the table._

 _Lex was in an interrogation room with a one-way mirror window for the fourth time during the day, and she was getting really tired. However, she knew that if she didn't cooperate she would only have to suffer longer._

 _"What do you want me to say?" asked Lex. "I've already told the three men before what happened."_

 _"Yes, indeed," said the man, opening the folder in front of him and looking at the notes. "You said that you entered the pyramid as planned, even though you warned Mr. Weyland that you should all return to the surface, and that you found…" he looked at her, urging her to complete the declaration._

 _"We found a circular room full of long decayed corpses, mummified and dried to bones, which ribcages seemed to have been torn from the inside out," recited Lex in a monotonous tone of voice._

 _"Yes, yes, that's what you said," replied the man. He looked at the notes again and smiled. "You left a team there and Professor De Rosa took you further inside, right?" Lex nodded. "After a while, you reached another with a large sarcophagus, but there was not corpse inside but…" he looked at her again._

 _"Why are you doing this?" asked Lex, raising an eyebrow._

 _"Please, Miss Woods, I'm also trying to verify the notes."_

 _Lex sighed and recited again, "we found three objects that seemed to be of advanced technology. They ended up being the weapons of the race who had constructed the pyramid in the first place."_

 _"Tell me about this… race…" said the man, closing the folder. "They weren't… human, according to what you said."_

 _"No," said Lex, "they were a race of hunters from…" she paused and looked at the man, who had a raised eyebrow._

 _"Yes, Miss Woods?" he asked._

 _"They were from another world," said Lex._

 _The man looked at her for a few seconds and removed his glasses, set them on the table, stood up and began walking around the room._

 _"You mentioned that these 'hunters', they weren't searching for human prey, were they?"_

 _"No, we weren't their objective," said Lex._

 _"What were they hunting exactly?"_

 _"When Mr. Stafford and his men removed the hunters' weapons from the sarcophagus, the pyramid started to shift and the team we left in the circular room was attacked. Soon, we started running into these creatures, 'serpents' the ancients called them, and the hunters engaged them in combat."_

 _"You mean that Mr. Stafford and his men caused the death of the whole team save for you?" the man's tone had started to get stern._

 _"No," replied Lex. "The whole expedition was a trap set by the hunters so we could become the hosts of the serpents."_

 _"The hosts?" said the man. "You mean, as you said on your previous declaration, that these serpents gestate within our bodies?"_

 _"Is this really necessary?" asked Lex, starting to get annoyed._

 _"Just answer the question," replied the man._

 _"These serpents are bred by a sort of queen, live in some kind of a hive and…" she was interrupted when another man barged into the room and approached her questioner. She waited while the two of them conversed in low voices and then exited the room, leaving her alone._

 _Lex stood up and paced around the room for a few minutes before another man entered the room._

 _"Miss Woods, you are free to go," he said. "Please go to the front desk before you leave so you can claim your pay check for your services during the expedition."_

 _"Will that be all at last?" she asked._

 _"We'll stay in contact," said the man, before motioning her out of the room._

Lex came back to the present when Mr. Harris announced that they had reached the airport. She exited the limo and Mr. Harris led her to the private jet waiting a few feet away.

* * *

Dallas was pacing around his cell, trying hard not to lose his temper. His brother Ricky had been locked away in a separate cell as well as Kelly and Molly, who had also been rescued when the helicopter went down after the destruction of Gunnison. It had been nearly a month since the event and they still hadn't been released, or even informed about why they were being held captive. Every day, someone slid a plate with food through an opening in the wall three times a day, and he had never received so much as an answer when he had asked any questions.

This time, whoever, he heard someone fiddling with the door lock and then the door swung open. Two armed men entered, followed by a Japanese woman in white robe, decorated with a strange logo with a 'Y' on the left chest pocket.

"Dallas, right?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"Where the hell am I? And, where is my brother?" he replied.

"I apologize for the isolation, Dallas," said the woman. "I'm Dr. Kimura, your brother is ok and completely recovered from his injuries. If you please follow me I will take you to him and Mrs. O'Brien, for there is a lot that we need to converse about." She exited the room.

Dallas looked at the two armed men and followed Dr. Kimura out of the room, followed closely by the two guards. The aisle outside was completely white, something he hadn't noticed before as he had been brought in blindfolded, and several doors seemed to be aligned along the way. The reached a crossroad and turned left, soon reaching an elevator door. Once inside, Dallas looked at Dr. Kimura and spoke again.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I'm in no position to reveal any information," she replied.

"And who's in position?" he pushed.

"You will soon find out," she replied with a smile.

The elevator door opened and they stepped into a room with a large window. There was a large circular conference table in the middle of the room and a long table on one side, full of American food. Judging by the architecture outside, Dallas guessed that they were somewhere in…

"Are we in China?!" he asked.

"Japan, actually," replied Dr. Kimura. "Tokyo, to be more precise."

Dallas retort was lost when another door opened and a small girl came running toward him and embraced his legs tightly.

"Dallas!" she screamed.

"Molly!" replied Dallas in surprise. He looked behind the girl and saw Kelly, also escorted by a white-robed scientist and two guards. "Kelly!"

"Dallas, where are we?" asked Kelly.

"No idea," replied Dallas, patting Molly's head. "Where's…?" another door opened before he could finish and Ricky stepped into the room with a similar escort as theirs. "Ricky!"

"Dallas!" said Ricky, as he also embraced his brother.

"I will ask you to please get comfortable," said Dr. Kimura, motioning them toward the table with food. "Soon you will be able to ask any questions that you may have."

Dallas nodded and the scientists left, leaving the guards behind, while Molly ran to the table and started helping herself some fries into a plate. Kelly, Dallas and Ricky also sat at the table, but looked at the food feeling uneasy.

"Where are we?" asked Ricky, looking through the window.

"Tokyo," replied Dallas, "that's all I know."

"Why are we here?" asked Kelly.

"I don't know," replied Dallas, "but I'm sure it is because we weren't meant to survive Gunnison."

Kelly grabbed a plate and helped herself a slice of something that looked like turkey while Dallas paced around the room and Ricky stood by the window. Dallas couldn't stop wondering why they had been taken to Japan in the first place, and how could this people be involved in the events that led to the destruction of Gunnison County. He approached Ricky and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," he said. "You ok?"

"Yeah," replied Ricky, "It's just that… well, I can't stop thinking of her, Jesse, you know? I keep replaying her death in my mind over and over again."

"It's ok," said Dallas.

"No, It's not ok!" shouted Ricky, brushing Dallas' hand and stepping away. "None of this shit is ok!"

"Hey!" said Dallas with a strong voice. "Molly's here!" The girl was eating some fries while looking at the two brothers arguing.

"I should have saved her, you know?" said Ricky, not looking at them. "If I had stopped her from running or ran faster after her…"

"It would be you who'd be dead," replied Dallas.

Ricky opened his mouth to retort but the door of one of the elevators opened again and two more guards came in escorting another Japanese woman with a stern look across her face and a silver briefcase in her hand. Dallas, Ricky, Molly and Kelly stared at her as she stepped into the middle of the room and looked at them, slightly relaxing her expression. She then motioned the guards to stand by the door while she left the briefcase on the conference table and motioned them to sit around it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting and for the isolation in which we have kept you the last weeks," she said. "It was a necessary measure to be taken in view of the recent events in which you were involuntarily involved."

"Who are you?" asked Dallas, approaching the table but not sitting down. Kelly and Ricky also approached.

"I'm Ms. Yutani, head of the Yutani Corporation," she replied. "What we're about to discuss is confidential and none of our words will be recorded in any way."


	3. COMPANY'S INTERESTS

Lex climbed into the private jet and Mr. Harris offered her a seat and a cup of coffee. She ignored the latter but still sat down on one of the leather couches that were set along one side of the cabin. A few seconds later, a young man in his late thirties, came in through a door on the back, smiled at her and sat down. He was dressed in an impeccable bone-white suit, dark gray dress pants, a white shirt and black shiny shoes; he had thin-framed glasses and there was a golden watch on his wrist. What seemed to be most odd about him was that he had long light brown hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Miss Woods," he said with a friendly smile, sitting down in front of her. "I'm sorry to take you by surprise like this; I promise that I wouldn't do this if it weren't of utter importance."

Lex stared at him in silence and then raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" she asked.

"Oh, right," he stretched out a hand. "My name is Benjamin Weyland, newly appointed CEO of Weyland Industries." Lex shook his hand and stared at him again. "Please, call me Ben."

"Mr. Weyland never mentioned he had a son," she said.

"I can't see why he would have," replied Benjamin, "He and I didn't get along well." He made a pause to serve some champagne on two glasses and handed one to Lex, who took it but didn't drink of it. "I understand that you want some explanations about what is going on and why we brought you here, right?"

"I want to know when can I move on with my life," replied Lex acidly; Benjamin chuckled.

"No need to get nasty, Miss Woods," he said with a smile. "We need you because of what you know and what you've been through. I'm sure that my father would have wanted you to help us."

"Your father made a mistake," replied Lex. "He allowed his greed and his pride to lead him to his end."

"My father laid out a legacy," said Benjamin. "It is my duty, and also my wish, to keep the company going and bring into the light the things he did in his last moments, the things he discovered, and the things that YOU discovered for him." He stared at the hunter's scar on her left cheek.

Lex set the glass of champagne aside and stood up. She had no intention to live through another interrogatory and she had already lost her job interview. She turned her face sideways to hide the scar from Benjamin's sight and closed her eyes.

"I want to leave," she said.

"Miss Woods," said Benjamin, also standing up, "it is important for us that you tell us everything you know about the serpents, and not only for the company's interests, but also as a matter of national security."

Lex turned to look at him again intrigued, and he motioned her to sit down again. She doubted for a few seconds but then she took her place back on the couch. Benjamin pointed at the champagne again and she reluctantly took a sip, emptying the glass in the end; she was thirsty after all.

"Miss Woods, or can I call you Lex?" began Benjamin, Lex shrugged indifferently. "Lex, what we're going to discuss is top secret, and is something that we haven't even disclosed out of the upper management levels in Weyland Industries." Lex looked at him in full attention. "We dispatched an expedition to Bouvet Island on Antarctica right after you left and they found something that you may want to see."

"And what exactly could that be?" asked Lex, her heart starting to race.

"Well," said Benjamin with a smile, "we found it... the queen"

Lex didn't want to hear anymore. She quickly stood up and headed to the exit of the jet, but a bodyguard blocked her way. She turned again and glared at Benjamin, like trying to set him on fire only by wishing it.

"You can't be serious!" she yelled at him.

"At first we didn't believe in your story," said Benjamin, standing up and looking at her with understanding. "It was such an implausible story that we thought that you were hiding something, or that somehow you had sabotaged the whole expedition!"

"And what for?" asked Lex. "What made you change your mind in the end?"

"Well, as soon as you told us your story for the first time," explained Benjamin, "I managed to convince the board to send one of our drones to recon the area. It sent back some images that confirmed that the Whaling Station on Bouvet Island had been completely destroyed, and then it shot echo images that revealed something lying underwater. That was when I commanded that the board released you, yet keep track of all your movements."

"And you were stupid enough to go get her, right?" asked Lex with disdain.

"We sent an expedition to recover 'her', as you call it, and we brought the frozen corpse back to our labs, right here in Washington DC. For several years we have operated a secret underground research facility below the Smithsonian Institute, and we have a large enough place where we are keeping it as it is."

"And why do you need me?" asked Lex. "I'm an exploration guide, not a scientist."

"You know what it is," said Benjamin. "You know what it can do and we want you to tell us what you know."

Lex looked through the window and saw that the day was getting cloudy outside. She then spoke again, without looking at Benjamin or the bodyguard. "She's dead, right?"

"She had been under freezing cold water for nearly a week, her body stiff and frosted, and has remained like that in our labs ever since. I'm sure she's dead."

Lex turned around and looked at Benjamin icily. She knew that she would later regret it, but maybe this was her only chance to finally stop being pursued by Weyland Industries and return to her climbing and adventure days. She sighed in resignation and sat down in the couch again.

"Ok," she said, "let's get this over with."

* * *

Ms. Yutani sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the circular conference table and urged Kelly, Dallas and Ricky to sit down as well. Molly was now sitting by a large TV watching some cartoons, not wanting to hear more of the boring grown up talk. Dallas, Ricky and Kelly sat down in front of Ms. Yutani and eyed her metal briefcase with caution.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of how long have you been kept here with us," she asked.

"I didn't have a calendar on me and my cell phone was taken from me when I got captured," said Dallas with sarcasm. "I'm guessing that nearly a month."

"That's right, Mr. Howard," said Ms. Yutani. "The current date is November 15th."

"How is that important," asked Ricky, "besides from pissing us further, knowing that you have wasted one month of our lives?" Dallas glared at him.

"It is important because from this date on you will be workers for our corporation," explained Ms. Yutani; Ricky snorted.

"You mean that you legally own us now," said Dallas. "Kidnapping wasn't good propaganda?"

"I understand your doubts about the offer, Mr. Howard," replied Ms. Yutani, "but I assure that you have all the right to refuse."

"And If we do, we go back to our cells, don't we?" asked Ricky.

"I'm a member of the US Army," said Kelly. "You're aware that this could bring the government of the United States on your backs, right?"

"Your government is aware of your current location and we have ensured them that you'd be treated with respect during your visit here," said Ms. Yutani. "Besides, we want you to be the head of our new department, as well as Mr. Howard here," she said, nodding at Dallas. "Young Mr. Howard will get the chance to go to one of our educational institutions to finish his studies before he is legally of age."

"That's bullsh…" started Ricky, but Dallas silenced him with a raised hand and addressed Ms. Yutani.

"What exactly is going on, Ms. Yutani?" he asked. "Why are we here?"

"As you know," said Ms. Yutani, opening her briefcase, "Your home town, Gunnison County, was destroyed by a nuclear missile fired by the US Military over a month ago." She made a pause and then continued. "What you may not understand is that the order to destroy it was issued in order to contain the infestation that had occurred in less than 48 hours."

"And how do you know or care about all of this?" asked Dallas.

"My corporation has links all over the world and we were the first to know about the menace on your country, at least right after your government," she explained. "We have been aiding in the development of new weaponry and technology that would help continue 'moving human capital beyond tomorrow'." She recited the company's slogan while she pulled out a folder from the briefcase and opened it to show them the picture inside: it was the alien weapon that had been taken from them when they had been captured.

"Where did you get this?" asked Dallas.

"Our contact inside the US Government gave it to us," explained Ms. Yutani. "We are already examining it and we intend to boost humanity's technological development through our findings." She then stored the picture back in her briefcase and looked at them again. "I need to know exactly what happened, who brought this piece of equipment to our planet, for we know it's not from Earth as we haven't even been able to determine the material it's made of, and how does it work." He said the latter while looking directly at Dallas. "We know that you figured out how to operate it, and our technicians haven't been able to."

"Well, so much for Japanese science!" said Ricky with mockery.

"Shut up, Ricky!" yelled Dallas. He then looked at Ms. Yutani again. "I'm sorry, but what makes you think we will accept your offer, after the way we have been treated?"

"Because we know that you want to make a difference, Mr. Howard," replied Ms. Yutani. "You would all be helping improve the lives of millions of people."

"I'm sorry," said Dallas. "We really appreciate it but we wish to return to the United States if it's possible." Ricky and Kelly nodded in agreement.

Ms. Yutani was about to reply when the door of one of the elevators opened and a suited man entered with a white envelope in his hand. She tore it open and read the memo inside, also pulling out a CD, nodded and looked at the three of them again with a smile.

"We can give you a counteroffer," she said. The others simply stared at her. "You tell us what happened, how to operate the weapon and all you know about the alien species that brought it; then, we will send you back to the US with the sole condition that you sign non-disclosure contracts and allow our people there to pick you up at the airport."

"Why would we need an escort?" asked Kelly.

"There is a British company who has made similar contact in the past few days," she pulled a laptop from inside the briefcase and turned it on, inserted the CD on one side and turned it so that the others could also watch.

According to the date in one of the corners, the video had been recorded one day after the events of Gunnison County. A young black woman was seating on one side of a table in what seemed to be an interrogation room with a man wearing a suit. She was speaking about an expedition to Antarctica and their encounter with a species of monsters, to which she referred as 'serpents' and another species, which she called 'hunters' that had come to fight with the serpents.

She began describing each of them and Dallas, Ricky and Kelly looked at each other, as both species matched the ones that they had encountered in Gunnison. She mentioned that the last of three hunters had fallen when they had killed the queen of the serpents, and that it had been then when an alien spaceship had appeared and taken the fallen one into space. The man then took a box from under the table and set it on top, opened it and revealed a metal object inside. Ricky recognized it as similar to the one that the alien hunter in Gunnison had carried.

The video then skipped to a footage that had been recorded inside a large compound, apparently military, and a large creature came in focus. It appeared to be frozen stiff, yet it greatly resembled the ones they had encountered, though relatively larger and scarier. Ms. Yutani then closed the laptop and waited for their reaction.

"Is this real?" asked Kelly.

"Our contact inside Weyland Corporation ensures that it is," replied Ms. Yutani. "Apparently this 'battle' occurred less than 24 hours before the infestation in Gunnison started. It is possible that they were both related."

"Where are they keeping this, queen, now?" asked Dallas.

"At Weyland Corporation research facility in Washington DC." Ms. Yutani stored the laptop and documents inside the briefcase and closed it. "If you accept my new offer, you will be able to form part of the greatest discovery in mankind's existence."

Dallas, Kelly and Ricky looked at each other in silence, unsure about the path that was being laid out in front of them.

* * *

 **A/N: OK, I know that so far it may still be a bit slow, but I'm laying out the path for the plot to take place. Hope you like it so far and if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know. R &R!**


	4. HUNTER'S PRIDE

The chamber of the council of Yautja Prime was located in one of the largest pyramids on the main continent. It was a large square room, capable of holding at least fifty Yautja Councilors inside, all sitting on stone chairs that surrounded the podium in the middle, where the head of the council stood during their sessions. Today, the council was going through mayhem and chaos.

The hunter that had been sent to destroy the hybrid abomination on Earth had been defeated, though not by said creature, but by the native primates instead. It had been millennia since they had let their former slaves develop on their own, only luring them into the hunting ground every hundred years for the ritual sacrifice to take place for the initiation of the young brothers.

The human race, as their former slaves called themselves, had developed fast and the Yautja thought that maybe this time they had gone too far. They established contact with the hunter's scout ship, still camouflaged and orbiting the human planet, and acquired the recordings of the last minutes of his life. The Yautja Council was then able to confirm that, not only had he been killed, but his plasma caster had also been taken.

The head of the Yautja Council roared in rage and the rest of the warriors in the chamber echoed his growl in anger. For a brother to be bereft of his weapon was the ultimate insult to the hunters' pride, a sin that could only be redeemed by sacrificing himself; however, the hunter hadn't been able to do so, being killed in battle without receiving proper honor.

The head of the Yautja Council then made a gesture with his fist in the air and the room fell silent. He motioned toward the door of the chamber and a group of about five brothers came in. All of them had received honor many times over; all of them bore their marks with pride on their foreheads; all of them had been scarred and shed blood in battle; all of them were ready to restore pride and honor to the clan.

The head of the council led them to gather in front of the podium and introduced them to the council by their Yautja titles:

 _Setg'in_ , 'Deadly' would be his name in our language. He had collected many trophies and was skilled with the use of his wrist blades. He had tasted the blood of his prey several times over.

 _Vor'mekta_ , Stalker. He was known for his ability to hide in the shadows and take his prey by surprise, even though he didn't use the cloaking device at all for he thought it took the fun out of the hunt.

 _Cetanu_ , Black Hunter. Younger than his brothers, he had gotten his name out of his dark skin color, which allowed him to move in the night without going noticed. His favorite weapon, the dual whip, had earned him the nickname of Whiplash among his clan mates.

 _Kujhade_ , the Destroyer, was the strongest of the five. He was capable of turning stone pillars to rubble with his bare fists and his expertise with mines and remote bombs made him a living nightmare for bigger prey.

 _Gahn'tha-cte_ , the Ruthless, the eldest of the five and the most scarred of them as well. He had seen battles that none of the other four could ever dream of and had survived the arena on Earth at a very early age. Though he had a very impressive plasmacaster, which he had constructed by himself, he preferred hand to hand combat and relished in the feel of his prey's bones cracking under his grip.

The members of the council growled in approval of the five warriors that had been chosen for the hunt. The head of the council placed a hand on each one of their shoulders and shook them in turns in salutation and the five of them filed into the warship waiting for them outside. He looked at them as they boarded the spacecraft and it took off into space; they had lost honor and their hunting ground on Earth, but at least the first would be restored.

* * *

 **A/N: Short chapter, I just wanted to properly introduce the Predators into the story.**


	5. A MEETING

Lex was in her apartment getting ready. Two days had passed since she had spoken to Benjamin Weyland, and today she had received a call informing that they would go pick her up. She turned on the TV to have some background noise while she chose a jacket. A morning interviews show was on at the moment and something that the conductor, a middle aged brunette woman, said caught Lex's attention; she approached her bed and sat down, turning on the volume:

 _"… and we all have heard the conspiracy theories about what really happened. One of the most popular ones actually state that Gunnison was not destroyed by an accident, as the government has stated, but it was destroyed to cover up something far bigger than a nuclear experiment."_

Lex looked at her watch and then stared back at the TV.

 _"Today, we have invited a man who claims to be the only survivor of Gunnison County. His name is Michael Turner, and he has agreed to tell us his experience during this devastating disaster. Please, let's welcome Mr. Michael Turner._

The crowd started to applaud while a man in his mid-forties, dressed in a blue jean jacket over a black t-shirt and beige pants entered the set, waving at the cameras. He was holding a black briefcase in his hand. He sat down next to the conductor and relaxed.

 _"Welcome Mr. Turner. I understand that you have information that you would like to share with us,"_ she said.

 _"Yes, actually, I was doing some business in Gunnison County when all hell broke loose,"_ said Mr. Turner.

 _"'All hell broke loose?' what do you mean?"_

 _"Gunnison County witnessed something terrible. So many people died during the outbreak. We were ordered to run into the center of town so we could be evacuated, but I've seen too many movies to know what would really happen, and what actually ended up happening in the end."_

 _"And what happened really in Gunnison County?"_

 _"Aliens,"_ said Mr. Turner. The conductor simply stared at her. _"There was an alien infestation and the government simply decided to bomb town before they could spread."_

 _"Ooook,"_ said the conductor with skepticism. _"So there were aliens in Gunnison County? Like, the ones we've seen in movies?"_

 _"Oh, not at all,"_ said Mr. Turner. _"These creatures where horrible, long rigged heads, no recognizable form of language. They seemed to relish on killing."_

Lex started to breathe fast, for the man had described the serpents from the pyramid with accuracy. Had the aliens been able to escape or had there been any more of them? How many training grounds had the hunters had?

 _"Why don't I just show you?"_ asked Mr. Turner, grabbing his briefcase. _"I knew you wouldn't believe it if I told you."_

As soon as Mr. Turner began fondling with the locks of the briefcase and, to the conductor's and audience's surprise, a group of men entered the room, dressed in black suits with an emblem with the letter 'Y' on them and grabbed the man. He struggled but he was taken away anyways _._ One of the men approached the camera and the signal was cut off.

Lex was frozen in shock; the serpents had been responsible for the destruction of Gunnison County. She heard a car horn outside and she quickly finished changing and exited the apartment heading to the limousine, parked in front of the building, where Benjamin was waiting for her.

"It was them, were they?" she asked as soon as the driver exited the parking. "You knew about the infestation in Gunnison County."

"I assure you that we had nothing to do with that, technically," he said.

"Technically?" asked Lex, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't want to mention it yet, until we had reached the lab, but there is a Japanese company that is also working along with us in this project. They recovered a piece of technology from one of the Gunnison survivors and we have the queen, so we share interests. We let them play with our toys and we can play with theirs."

"Which company is it?"

"They Yutani Corporation," replied Benjamin. "They have been talking to the survivors of Gunnison and they have been sent in order to help with the research. We will pick them up at the airport before we go to the lab."

Lex nodded, and sat back in silence. She wasn't entirely satisfied, yet if they were going to meet with survivors then she may be able to get some responses.

* * *

The flight from Tokyo to LA, and then to DC, left Dallas, Ricky, Kelly and Molly wearier than anything else they had gone through so far. When they finally exited the airport, they saw a man, holding a sign that read 'Dallas Howards' waiting next to a limousine. They approached the man and he spoke up.

"Mr. Howards?"

"Yes," replied Dallas.

"Please," said the man, opening the door for them.

Dallas and Ricky allowed Kelly, carrying Molly fast asleep, climb in first, before entering the limo themselves. Inside, they were met by a young man and a fair woman with a T-shaped scar on her cheek.

"Welcome, Mr. Howards, Mrs. O'Brien, Ricky," greeted them the man with a smile. "My name is Benjamin Weyland. This is Miss Alexa Woods." The others nodded.

"Weyland, as in the Weyland Industries?" asked Kelly.

"I'm the CEO of Weyland Industries," replied Benjamin. "I understand that Ms. Yutani has informed you about the nature of your trip here?"

"She mentioned something about a discovery," said Dallas, "but the only thing we really want is to get on with our lives."

"I think Lex here can explain better," said Benjamin, looking at Lex.

"Well," she sighed, "first of all, I understand that you all know what really happened in Gunnison County. You fought the serpents, right?"

"Serpents?" asked Kelly.

"The creatures that killed my whole expedition team in Antarctica," said Lex. "They also were in Gunnison County, right?"

"What do you mean?" asked Ricky.

Lex started to explain what had occurred in Antarctica, where they had discovered an ancient pyramid that turned out to be the proving ground for a group of alien hunters. She described in detail the creatures they had encountered and how she had ended up allying with one of the hunters and they had managed to defeat the queen. She explained that the mark on her cheek was a ritual hunter's mark, branded with the acidic blood of the serpents to show that one was worthy of the hunters' honor.

Dallas, Ricky and Kelly listened in silence and then looked at each other. Dallas began then explaining what had happened in Gunnison, how they had been overrun by the serpents and a single hunter had arrived to put an end to them. He explained how he ended up with the hunter's gun and had helped the others fight their way into a helicopter, allowing the four of them to escape just in time.

"So we can only assume that the species that Lex encountered in Antarctica are the same as the ones from Gunnison County?" asked Benjamin.

"I'm pretty sure they are," said Ricky. "Man, this is nasty shit we're talking about!"

"You mentioned queen," said Dallas to Lex.

"Actually," said Benjamin, "right after we brought Lex back from Antarctica, we deployed a search team to Bouvet Island. We managed to recover the dead queen and brought it here to DC so we could study it better."

"And what do you need us for?" asked Kelly.

"You all know this species," said Benjamin. "We want you to be our advisors."

Dallas looked at Lex, who shrugged and looked away. Kelly stroke Molly's head while Ricky and Dallas stared at Benjamin, who was smiling as a kid who has been given the most amazing toy.


	6. AUTHOR NOTICE

Hello dear readers,

I'm taking this time to let you know that I'll be placing ALL of my FanFictions on a temporary hiatus for a little while. Reason? I'm currently working on my first original story, which is not published on this site.

The story is being written in both English and Spanish, though I'm speeding up the writing in spanish, only translating whenever I get to an author's block, and it will be an adult romantic story. If any of you is over 18 and wishes to read it, you can PM me so I can let you know how to find it. (Why PM? Cuz I'm using a pseudonym to publish it)

As soon as I finish with it, I'll be coming back here and continue with my FanFiction stories.

Thank you all for following!

Rick


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